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DC's Union Station has many great places to eat. Cherry Blossom time is really nice.
Avoid eating in DC places that charge by the .lb for various deli meals, salads. Instead , opt for the pre-made sandwiches and salads, like at the Fresh Market at Foggy Bottom.
Hospital next to Metro stop at Foggy Bottom has a nice coffee shop area on the main floor.
For more fun, book the Vermonter for a 13-hr ride on the same train all the way up to Burlington, VT. My GPS told me the train was doing 120 MPH in parts of NJ or DE.
Burlington downtown has geat pub food. Enterprise car rentals are a deal. Go on a winter non-holiday weekend.
We were the only ones on a Ben & Jerry's factory tour. Great samples.
Vermont Teddy Bear factory tour is fun. Also, the maple syrup making places are a fun tour.
Dine at the Trapp Family-related lodge.
Top it off with a one-horse open-sleigh ride through the light powder snow!
We don't ski and loved the place. Did the trip twice. Hotwire had the best hotel deals.
Business Class is quieter and worth it, for dozing. Bring a good neck pillow.
I don't know if this is still the case, but freight trains had the right of way and delay travel; sometimes significantly.
Amtrak and passenger trains in general have the right of way. The juice train usually after that followed by intermodal trains. Manifest trains are usually at the bottom of the barrel from my observations. It's rare that Amtrak is on time. I've seen them running anywhere from 30 minutes late to over eight hours late...
I do this trip a few times a year. Whatever the delay, it's better than the semi-permanent traffic jam between Richmond and DC.
I prefer the Carolinian because it has wifi. As others have mentioned, you can't stream movies, etc, on it, but you can get internet access for basic functions.
Bring your own food. The snack bar is overpriced and under-qualitied (yes, I know that's not really a word). Frozen salads, shriveled sandwiches, etc. And they close it for extended periods.
The difference between coach and business class is marginal, but then so is the price differential. However, for four people, that difference can add up.
The train and station staff are unfailingly helpful and friendly. You don't have to be in business class to get the friendly and helpful. I've been helped with my bag in both.
I've been on time, and I've been delayed. Worst delay was 2 hours, but that was an outlier during very bad weather. It's usually off by about 15 minutes at most.
I'd much rather do a train than a car or airplane with children. I've ridden the train with many a child, and have seen very little running up and down the aisles. I think that children, like adults, simply find the train more comfortable than other modes of transit, and with that comfort comes better behavior. But parents usually do bring along things to keep them entertained.
Oh, the the toilets are nice and roomy. But do try to get a seat away from them. They can start to get rather stinky as you get closer to DC.
The best is that it arrives in the center of the city. Union Station is right by Capitol Hill, and is in many ways the central access point for the entire city.
Technically thats true. However, the freight railroads own the tracks, and routinely force Amtrak to delay in favor of their own trains.
the freight railroads due own the track, but the rest of your statement is not true. at least not around here. The railroads do everything possible to get Amtrak through, even pulling their own trains into siding tracks to let Amtrak by.
the freight railroads due own the track, but the rest of your statement is not true. at least not around here. The railroads do everything possible to get Amtrak through, even pulling their own trains into siding tracks to let Amtrak by.
The rest of my statement is true, that's why the Supreme Court is getting involved:
I've been on Amtrak between Charlotte and Raleigh and had it pull over and stop in order to let a freight train go by.
like I said, around Raleigh everything possible is done to let Amtrak through. I think this holds true for all of NC where they run on NS rail-- and Amtrak does cushion their delays. I'll leave it at that
like I said, around Raleigh everything possible is done to let Amtrak through. I think this holds true for all of NC where they run on NS rail-- and Amtrak does cushion their delays. I'll leave it at that
Maybe through NC that may be the case, however that's not the case in other states - particularly while going through VA I've experienced lengthy delays on a siding waiting for a freight to go past.
To chime in here, FWIW, I tend to prefer the Silver Star over the Carolinian. I don't see much advantage to the business class car. The legroom is about the same between business class and coach, Amtrak has done much better about making sure there are two electrical outlets at each seat in coach (I can't remember the last time I was in coach and didn't have two outlets at my seat), and a copy of USA Today isn't exactly worth the fare difference. Now if the business class car was a guaranteed quiet car, I might be interested, but it's not. Beyond that, I prefer the dining car over just having the cafe car. Yeah the food is your standard fast casual sort of fare and it's not the Empire Builder in terms of quality but it's generally pretty good and sometimes the specials can be downright good.
I just took the Amtrak for the first time ever (from Raleigh to Burlington). I saw a few families on the train, there were even a few sets of 4 seats, facing each other, which would be perfect for keeping an eye on your kids, and I am sure they would enjoy the experience. A friend pointed me toward this survey, this is the first I heard of the train.
We took the Amtrak to Greensboro and back for my twins 4th birthday. It was very family friendly and I'd highly recommend it. I think the round trip was 3 hours. We had maybe a half hour 'layover' in Greensboro.
like I said, around Raleigh everything possible is done to let Amtrak through.
My own personal experience says otherwise. And I doubt Raleigh has some sort of separate policy from the rest of the country. But you seem to have a bone to pick with Amtrak, so I'll leave it at that.
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